The RTM 79 is the newest addition to the RTM collection and is now the narrowest ski in the line that uses Volkl’s 3D.Ridge construction. A Dual Wood Core is supported by a center ridge of steel. Any construction that uses a combination of wood and metal is going to perform at a relatively high level, although steel is a bit more user-friendly for less aggressive skiers than titanal or titanium. Although Volkl considers the RTM line to be all mountain skis, they lean more toward frontside carving performance than anything else, and the RTM 79 with its 79 mm waist width should definitely have a preference for carving. Let’s see what our testers thought of this new RTM. All of these testers were on a 170 cm RTM 79.
Charlie Roy found it to be a “great softer (flexing) frontside ski.” He went on to say, “the ski handles the groomers well and has a nice smooth flex to it. Turn entry and exit are very easy.” That’s nice to hear on a ski like the RTM 79. Sometimes frontside carving skis can require a lot of skier input to initiate a turn, but Charlie found it to be easy and smooth. He did continue and added, “this ski definitely starts to get a little shaky at high speeds, but has a nice stable feeling when not going too fast.” You’ll find that our testers had somewhat varying feedback in terms of stability at speed, but just about everyone was surprised by the ski’s level of performance.
Bob St.Pierre was one of those testers who was rather surprised with the performance of the RTM 79. His first comment mentioned that it’s a higher performing ski than he expected. Bob found the highlight of the ski to be its energy in and out of a turn and just how much fun it is to ski. He described it as a “very fun carving ski. It loved being on edge and active.” Bob thought it “can be made to feel like a higher end ski as it has lots of snap and pop.”
It’s important to remember here that the RTM 79 is essentially 4 skis down the line from the top of the line RTM 86, so if you’re looking for a tremendous amount of power you might want more ski. Jamie Bisbee didn’t think it was exceptionally powerful or stable, but did find it to be very forgiving. He described it as “easy to ski, especially in short turns.” He thought it would be great for an intermediate that loves to cruise.
Of course, ski performance is subjective, and some of our testers found it to be plenty of ski for skiing fast. Jake Inger, for example, is a pretty darn aggressive skier and he described it as “stable at high speeds even though it was a little short for me.” He went on to say, “this ski felt like a really fun GS ski. It was poppy out of turns and wanted to go fast.” While not all our testers were comfortable on it at speed, just about everyone commented on the energy and pop out of a turn.
Michael Rooney was like Jake in the sense that he found it to be plenty of ski. He too commented on the feeling out of a turn, “it has a lot of spring back after you have bent the ski in a turn, enough so you can jump around the next turn if you want to.” Michael really didn’t find it had a speed limit, saying “it’s reasonably forgiving, but wants to be pushed.”
Less aggressive and lighter weight skiers will likely find the RTM 79 is plenty of ski for them. Anyone who values quickness and energy out of a carved turn can have a blast skiing them, but if you’re a big guy or super aggressive, you may want to move up the RTM line to a stiffer ski.
